Hi all -
Going through a slight dilemma and wanted to try and get advice on career path. I'm currently an Audit Manager at EY (clients are banks and hedge funds) and also pursuing my MBA part-time at NYU Stern (expected graduation late 2019). I ultimately see myself in a CFO role, but am looking to see what the best "next step" would be.
I have an Internal Audit offer at Morgan Stanley in their Retail Wealth Management business. Not the ideal spot but I see this as a good move for purposes of being able to get exposure to upper management and gain experience on the internal side by learning about true risks and operations of the business, which will help the "well rounded" business knowledge base needed to become a CFO. Salary is 25% increase from my current level, work/life balance is significantly better and they will pay for a portion of my tuition (EY is paying none). They have told me that performing at a high level for 18-24 months in that role with exposure, I will be able to rotate internally to a position within the business that may be better aligned with that "finance" path, but this is obviously not guaranteed.
Is this a good move to make or am I getting too far down the rabbit hole of becoming a "career auditor" if I spend 2 years in that role and my entire 7 year full time career is explicitly external/internal audit? The other option would be to look for a role directly in a finance capacity as a product controller at a bank or fund accountant / assistant controller at a hedge fund. I've had trouble getting offers for those jobs since I "don't have enough fund experience" but think a direct move might be better in the long run since from what I've seen companies tend to look for people for controller/CFO roles who are "public/private" mixes and who have experience closing books.
My last option is a fallback on my MBA. I don't foresee myself making a "career change" into IB or anything like that, but figure I can use that as leverage in twoish years either way to land something. Any insight or opinions are extremely helpful.
Thanks!
It would be an interesting move to get a little more exposure to risk management and some internal processes - As a CFO this is always helpful to have, and if you're smart you can use the benefits offered such as tuition reimbursement and certifications. I don't think it will hurt to use a couple of years at MS with a decent salary while networking and looking for industry positions.
Out of curiosity, what are you being offered, a VP-level role?
The title would be "Manager" which it seems Morgan Stanley does differently than most other banks as its 3-7 year experience level. The next step would be Senior Manager in hopefully a year (or two) and then VP after that.
I agree with your points but the aspect that it is retail WM rather than institutional is what has me hung up on pulling the trigger.
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